The importance of family engagement in public schools

Good morning, Chairman Jackson and honorable members of the Education committee. My name is Anthony Harmon and I am the United Federation of Teachers’ Director of Community and Parent Outreach. Thank you for this opportunity to share our thoughts and concerns with you on this crucial and timely issue.

The UFT understands quite well just how important parent engagement is to our school system. We invest heavily in it because parent and community partnerships are critical to the success and strength of our school system. That’s true under any circumstances, but it is particularly so in light of the severe education budget cuts our schools have had to cope with for the last three years.

With educators in the nation’s largest school system constantly being asked by the city administration to do more with less, parents in many school communities have routinely stepped up and devoted even more of their precious time and energy to working with us and helping our beleaguered schools survive and thrive. In some school communities parents actually contribute financially through fundraising activities. In others they volunteer their time to get involved in after-school programs and support supplemental activities and educational initiatives that focus resources and attention on key concerns that might otherwise be altered, cut back or dropped for lack of funding. Still others have organized, forming coalitions with other groups to lobby city and state elected officials who determine the budget priorities and educational policies that affect their children’s schools.

Parents are key partners, and their hard work strengthens school communities. As major stakeholders in our schools, parents need to be engaged and respected. The UFT holds regular meetings, training sessions and conferences to prepare concerned parents to get more involved in their children’s schools and related activities. We also work with parent advocacy groups and other organizations to make sure parents are aware of the important issues affecting their kids’ schools and help them voice their concerns and ideas.

Unfortunately, however, many parents feel they have been marginalized by the Department of Education. They will readily tell you how angry and frustrated they have been by the problematic Community Education Council elections. They will rightly complain about having no voice at Panel on Educational Policy community meetings on important issues such as proposed school closings and staff layoffs, because the mayor’s proposals receive rubber stamp approval no matter how fierce the community opposition they face. Parents also will tell you how they receive little or no School Leadership Team training, as well how they and their children are stymied by the complex and confusing student enrollment process and high school admissions.

None of this is new. What IS new are the changes taking place within the DOE’s Division of Family and Community Engagement. With new leadership, a new structure and cabinet-level authority, the agency has a real opportunity to re-engage parents and community members. That is, of course, if they choose to go that route. Judging by last night’s PEP meeting, however, that’s not happening.

The same holds true for the 25 schools the DOE wants to close. Rather than supporting them, the DOE has moved to shutter them – another epic failure by the DOE management. The parents, students and teachers who know these schools better than anyone are already actively making their cases against closure. The city would be smart to not just listen, but really engage them in this process. We’re hopeful that the DOE will do so, but so far, that’s not happening either.

The home-school partnership is a crucial link in educating our children and preparing them for life’s challenges. Meaningful parental participation in public schools is so important that it is mandated by state law. Moving forward, the Department of Education must create better communication, more engagement, meaningful training and give parents a greater voice in the decision-making processes affecting individual schools.

I’d like to conclude by thanking this committee for taking its oversight role of the DOE’s parent participation efforts so seriously. They must be held accountable for their actions. Thank you.